


Towards the Sun

by NobleD93



Series: Earth People in Thedas [2]
Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Demonic Possession, F/M, Medical Procedures, Modern Advancements, Modern Boy in Thedas, Modern Character in Thedas, Modern Girl in Thedas, Once Upon a Time fairytales, Pizza, Song Lyrics, black-eyed demons, lots of references
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-12
Updated: 2017-06-07
Packaged: 2018-10-30 22:49:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10886538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NobleD93/pseuds/NobleD93
Summary: Something was entirely wrong here. Even after the breach was stabilized, people kept coming out of rifts. And it’s not just any people. People from my world are stumbling into the world of Thedas. They’re going to be extremely miserable to find out their smartphones won’t work here. Most importantly, there hasn’t been a way to send them all back. They were stuck here.We were all stuck here.…Oh look. A rift just spit out a train car into the frozen lake.Summary: A bunch of people from Earth are appearing randomly in Thedas. The Inquisition takes them in.==Excerpt==“Okay, so humor me. I have a theory,” Neal began, getting our attention as I chewed my pancake and Solas paused from drinking tea. The apostate elf was a bit of masochist because I can see him cringing each time he took a sip, thus he doesn’t like tea.“Okay, we’ll bite. What is it?” I asked.“Alright so…. Magic, to us, is an illusion… How ‘bout that?” He asked.I think we gave him the silence first, needing further explanation than just ‘how ‘bout that?’“Explain?” Solas prompted.





	1. Train in the Lake

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Finally, after a few hours, the cleaning was done. Really, I hate it when I close every time with the new workers. They always take so long to clean, but can I blame them? Not really, I mean I was like that too. It took a whole hour to close on a very small section. Now, I can close about five departments of this large bridal store in about 30 minutes, including sweeping up the fitting rooms and taking out the trash. What I don’t like is that the employee should be a little faster now, after it had been a month. They should get shit done faster.

The time was 11:15 PM when our manager, Sarah, closed and locked the doors, and we showed each other’s purses.

“Do you need a ride home?” She offered.

Shaking my head, I answered, “Nah. I can still take the train. Thank you though.”

With that, she and the new girl walked together to the parking lot structure. Hopefully, Sarah would tell the new girl, Tisha, that she needs to move faster or something. I already closed with her for three nights in a row, and I was very glad I would get a mid-shift tomorrow. A break from her.

Swallowing all my irritation and let it go, I started walking to the subway station with my guitar on hand. I was working two jobs. Regular days, I work in this retail store that sell bridal gowns and evening dresses for formal events. On the weekends, I get on late night café shows to play and sing. Luckily, I was pretty good enough to be hired and I accumulated local fans. I suppose they like the way I do covers for other songs, though sometimes I wish I could write my own songs.

The lyrics I write never strike as being strong enough.

So here I am, waiting and just doing my routine. Go home and sleep.

Fuck this night, hell broke loose.

It started out like turbulence on a plane. The lights turning on and off and the train shaking as if it hit gust, and that’s fucking weird. I looked around, making sure everything was okay and even outside the window, but all I see the blackness of the tunnel. The train was going too fast to see anything.

Then the intercom turned on for the conductor to say something, but all his words were jumbled and messed up. Worst of all, the lights kept turning on and off.

I prayed to God that the lady from The Grudge movie wasn’t coming after me, just because I watched the movie seven nights ago… or was that The Ring? I’m confused now.

Another turbulence and this time, it threw me off my feet.

“AHh!” I fell, but I reached out, holding on to the bar and my other hand grabbing my guitar. I was actually a little more worried of my guitar than my life.

The train car kept shaking ruthlessly and I was so afraid that the train was going to crash. I was going to die, and my last night had to be about complaining of the new girl. Great. She probably cursed me or something. She did say she did witchcraft as a hobby.

Then suddenly, the train car stopped shaking and there was light everywhere. I didn’t see anything else, not even the cars that were attached to this train car. It felt like was in midair until at the end of hall, the train started to tilt, pointing down. To my horror, I saw ice and the train crashed right into it, submerging in water

Holy shit.

I was underwater trapped in a train car…and the water was pouring in from the crevices. I rushed, hurrying to the doors and trying to pull the damn emergency latch. When I did, I didn’t expect the harsh rush of water flooding right in and pushing me back with a strong current. The train car felt like it was sinking faster as the water went in and the air was escaping.

Then, I was frozen. It was so fucking cold that I couldn’t even think or move. I think I was paralyzed even when the water reached the ceiling, and I sunk to the metal floor.

I thought… I’m dying…

My eyes were closing then I saw someone---no, two people coming straight for me. One of them pulled me and I could see that this one had a glowing green hand. The other one was a handsome blonde male with a scar on his lip. They tried to pull me and I feel the guitar leaving my hand.

No. I can’t. I can’t leave it. I reached out trying to grab for it, and thankfully, the handsome blonde noticed that and he grabbed it for me.

For a moment, I blanked out while they were rescuing me. I woke up again when I found myself on a colder ground---snow everywhere and before me the two men, gasping and shivering from the icy cold waters.

“Maker—blankets! They need blankets! And get the healers!” A woman shouted with this thick, strange Russian-like accent.

The blonde male turned to the other guy and exclaimed, “M-M-Maker’s _breath,_ w-w-what was…! Th-th-th-hat th-thing???”

“D-don’t…know…!”

They don’t know what… a train is…?

The last thing I saw was a woman with short black hair and a French braid around it, getting in my peripheral view. She was…clad in armor.  “Another one?”

The handsome hottie said, “a-another o-o-one…”

Holy shit.

Then I passed out from the cold.

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	2. Girl With Blue Hair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The people of Haven are beginning to trust the Earth people--My people. They were sharing everything they learned and slowly, in the grander scales of things, we were changing.

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**I found myself in the thickest forests with this thick, greenish fog, making everything hazy. Walking around, I found there were no paths to take, but just random turns and directions that would hopefully will take me out of this place.**

**Sadly, to no avail.**

**What I didn’t like was that there were these oily shadows walking about, and I could hear their voices.**

**“ _—Someone blew up the conclave._ ”**

**“ _The Divine is dead--_ ”**

**“ _These people are strange--_ ”**

**“— _Maker’s breath, what is she wearing?_ ”**

**“ _Praise the Herald of Andraste, who was sent to our darkest hour!_ ”**

**Then before me was a swirling green portal, and at first I felt this pull to go right through it. However, I stopped when a claw-like hand reached out to grab me from this portal. I tried to get away, but it grasped my arm, and instantly I felt it burning immensely.**

**And red glowing shards started to grow from my skin.**

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Immediately, I sat up, gasping, and surprising the person in the room.

“Whoa, whoa, easy there,” He said, going over to my side. “You just… got into a train accident unto the frozen lake, and the Inquisition rescued you.”

Panting, I looked around and I found myself in a cabin, rather than a white room that I would expect from a hospital. And maybe also a view of the city? No. From the window, I could see more log cabin houses.

“Hey, hey, look at me. My name is Neal. I’m barely a certified nurse assistant, but hopefully it’s enough credentials to beat a long-time healer here in this…crazy world.”

I stopped him. “Wait, where am I?”

He pursed his lips. “…You’re not going to believe it until you walk outside, and you might probably have a breakdown, but I need to check your vitals first, before I tell you anything else.”

“ _What_ do you mean?!” I demanded. Was I fucking kidnapped?!

Neal just pushed forward, waving his hand nonchalantly at my question. “Just start with this, do you remember your name? What is your name?”

“M-Maddie. Maddie Watson.”

“Date of birth?”

“Um, September 19, 1989.”

“City you live in?”

“San Francisco Bay Area.”

“Ohh cool, you like _hella_ doing fine?”

I stared at him, mostly disapproving. The way he said it, it sounded more like a Socal would say and I really disliked that. He seemed to notice that as he looked away and continued writing on the notepad that I just noticed, when my disappointment cancelled my panic.

“Sorry.” He said.

He continued the questions before finally answering mine. He tried to convince me that he and I were in a whole other world—medieval style. It’s not even traveling back in time, but similar to a dungeons and dragons’ world, and yes dragons existed.

I called him fucking crazy and walked out of the cabin, only to have the truth slap my face.

_Holy fuck._

Then I saw the big green portal like the one similar in my dream, but this one was colossal, swirling in the sky.

“What the fuck is THAT?!” Frantically, I screamed. “Holy SHIT! What is that?!?”

I hardly cared for the attention I was grabbing, but Neal did as he rushed over to me, to get me to calm down. “Okay, look, that’s the Breach. I think that it’s that’s fault that we got brought here. And whoever it is that did that was trying to destroy this world.”

“What?! Why---what the fuck! Why are we even fucking here, how many of us are here?!”

“So far? You’re number 12--Breathe! Breathe, Maddie, you are having a panic attack!”

“I-I need to get home!” Fuck this shit. Already, I was walking away from Neal, but then stopped and turned around, rushing back into the cabin. Thankfully, my guitar case was there and I grabbed it, taking it with me and leaving, ignoring Neal’s protests.

“Stop!!” Someone shouted and I whirled around to see who was commanding me like an asshole, and I saw that it was one of my saviors, the one with the darker hair and the…glowing, green hand.

“You will die out there,” He said to me.

Defiantly, I argued, “I’ll call someone to get me. And if not, just point me to the direction of the biggest city.”

“Miss Maddie, there is no city and the next town is three days away from here on horses,” Neal said. “…This isn’t _our_ world! This place has no cars, no electricity, and horrifyingly, no plumbing—yet!” He added. “We’re… we’re stuck here for the time being… The sooner you accept that, the better it would be for you so we can all figure out how to get back home.”

Looking around, it was starting to sink inside my brain. The people around us that were staring and watching this scene were all dressed so differently than I.

The silence took over until Neal broke it. “Allow me to introduce to you one of your rescuers. This is the Herald of Andraste, one of the prominent leaders of the Inquisition.”

The man rolled his eyes a bit. “Not one of the leaders, Neal. I’m just representing them.”

“Sure, you’re not.” Neal just agreed to disagree.

He walked up to me., holding his hand out to me. “Maxwell Trevelyan.”

“…Maddie.” Reluctantly, I shook his hand, but he seemed like a decent person. He did save me.

He smiled at me and said, “For now… Welcome to the Inquisition.”

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Two weeks.

It’s been a couple of weeks, since arriving in this world called Thedas. It was a lot of adjusting, especially to my horror, there was no plumbing, but one of our own—Tom, a construction worker—was trying to get that done. For now, he made changes like the latrines. As much as the shit smells, we started to use all the dump for composting, because, let’s be honest, our shit can make things fertile if done right. Composting was something my family and I did, though feces was a first for me to get involved.

I didn’t just help with composting, but I started _managing_ the place. Josephine seemed to like that as I was keeping books on every employee we hired, giving them their hours and days off. Everyone would be equally working their shifts, and their shifts are not permanent. I even set it up on the board---well, I had to have someone else write it down for me. Though we all speak the common, trade tongue, or English, we didn’t have the same written language.

From what Neal told me, the people were afraid of us offworlders, but Max, aka Herald of Andraste, being so accepting of us, it wasn’t that hard to integrate in this Inquisition and help out. The funny thing is, besides Max, they all thought that we were a bunch of crazy people until I came along with that giant train car. Right now, they were trying to recover the machinery so they can scrap it. For now, in exchange for staying and helping them, then they would in turn find a way how to get us all back home, though they warned us it will take a while.

Meanwhile, Neal had the clinic working in top order, especially after implementing an extreme importance on hygiene and cleanliness. Everything had to be cleaned and boiled in hot water for good measure. For better efficiency, we even built our own washing machine. There was a round water hole just like the one in Beauty and the Beast Musical Movie, and we had a barrel and attached it to a wagon horse, having it walk around to do the laundry for us.

The people looked at us weird for that one, but after a couple of days, everyone started doing it, and so I assigned people to do laundry, and even myself on some shifts. Like I said, I’m pretty equal, and I believe everyone should do their own share of different work so no one could get bored or start complaining about it.

Back to Neal, we had gotten some soldiers and one of them died while he was there. I was called in and he was executing CPR. I’m sorry, and I’ve learned this in health, but we don’t really need to do that lip-to-lip contact. Just do the compressions and such. And so, he and I switched. I started doing compressions and he was blowing air in the dead soldier. Everyone in the med-bay was shocked and wondering what we were doing, then a minute later, the dead soldier was breathing again, gasping. This would have been the high note of the day, if it weren’t for another soldier getting his leg amputated. The poor guy… even Neal can’t do a lot with so much with how torn up the leg is.

Take note, this had all happened just five days ago, and Neal didn’t even stop there. He went to meet with Harritt to see if he could build some crutches first. Maybe afterwards, they’ll start building some prosthetics.

So, we’re fine. We’re all doing fine, though we were feeling a little homesick.

I went to visit the Commander, my other savior. He was quite the eye-candy, and I’ve told him this before. He turned really red that day when I thanked him and told him how handsome he looked. I wouldn’t mind dating him, I’m open on the market, but he seemed like a very busy man and it didn’t seem like the right time to be dating. I’m not staying anyway and I didn’t need any emotional attachment to this world.

I found him, overseeing the training of the new recruits. He even joined in himself to show them how to properly swing a blade and I watched for a moment. He stepped back, letting the recruit try it out himself.

“Your stance, recruit,” he pointed out and bashfully the recruit quickly switched feet. Ah, so left foot forward if right handed with blade. Got that.

The Commander soon noticed my presence and he left them a moment. “Do you need something, Lady Maddie?”

I had to giggle a bit at the formality. It was just so medieval, but that didn’t mean I didn’t enjoy the sound of it.

“It’s just Maddie, Commander Cullen.”

He smiled crookedly yet so handsomely. “Then, I’ll call you Maddie if you call me Cullen.”

“Deal. You know… you really do have a handsome smile.” I said, grinning. “Do you often do it to make the women swoon? No wonder a lot of them coo over you.”

I saw him turning slightly red, but I suppose he was determined not to be bested by me with teasing and such. “Were you here to flatter me, Maddie?  Because I believe it’s working.”

“Don’t get a big head,” I told him, gently smacking him in the arm as he laughed. “Actually, I wanted to know about the progress of recovering that train car. The rubber might be valuable.”

Cullen rolled his eyes a bit but his gaze ended at the lake and I glanced over to see them with druffalos and some mages to pull the train out from deep in the lake. “So far, little progress. That… _machinery_ weighs more than a dragon. What did you say it can do? Transport people?”

“From one place to another in less than a few minutes. If we had a train here from Haven to the Crossroads at the Hinterlands, it would take just ten minutes of transport.”

He whirled at me, shocked at the unbelievable speed. “Really? It’s that fast? How?”

I only shrugged my shoulders. “It’s run by electricity, and everything else? Not entirely too sure. I don’t know much of how trains are built and how they work, except for that and they run on tracks with wheels. It’s a lot of complicating things that went into it, but it made travelling easier… Thing is I didn’t expect it to transfer me here and into a frozen lake on top of that.”

Cullen scoffed a bit. “It truly came as a surprise. The Herald and I were only chatting when you and that train came through in midair from a sudden open rift and then dove down through the ice… Hmm, you know, if it wasn’t for Max running to dive in, we wouldn’t have known there was anything inside that thing. You were lucky.”

I’ve heard that too from Neal. Even he didn’t think that anyone was in the train—well, except the possibility and before even such a thought, he saw the Herald just bolting to the lake with the Commander following suit. The men had to quickly strip their armor before jumping into the ice-cold waters just to save me.

“Yes… Again, thanks for that. If you two hadn’t, I would probably not be here in this…crazy place.”

The Commander laughed. “Crazy? You are in our world. You _Earth_ people are the unorthodox ones.”

I laughed at that. “True, true… You know what I miss the most? I miss showers, and I miss plumbing.”

Cullen nodded. “Yes. I met this Tom, and he explained plumbing to me in short.”

“It takes the shit elsewhere.” I bluntly repeated.

It made him laugh at the sentence. “Hahaha, yes. That’s how he eloquently placed the meaning.”

Glancing back the lake and seeing that it will be a very long while until they could actually recover that machinery, I dipped my head to him. “Well, I’ll be off. I still have many duties to attend to.”

“Of course. Perhaps we can chat again.” He said.

I only smiled at him and as I was leaving, he stopped me with a question, “Wait! …Are you performing tonight?”

See, everyone was starting to miss home, especially Neal, who claimed he’s been here for over a month now. He was asking me to play something a couple of nights ago, and the people, who were in the tavern that night, were very impressed. I never had so many performance encores before, not even in my usual night job.

“Ohh yes, what of it?” I asked.

He hesitated a bit, almost regretting to even ask, “See, I’ve heard of it---from the soldiers, and…well I was hoping if you were playing tonight, then maybe I can come by to listen?”

He was cute. Very cute.

I smiled widely at him. “Yes. I can play tonight. In fact, when you stop by, you can request a song from me—well, I know you don’t any of our _Earth_ songs, but you can request a song of love, or pain, or something like breaking hearts, or an epic battle—something like that… an idea.”

He nodded, actually taking the time to listen my ramble. “Hmm…I will think of something then for tonight.”

“The Herald is back!” A scout shouted and we all turned to see the large party coming around the hills’ view. A lot of the soldiers near him were saluting, fists to the chests like Attack on Titans soldiers. He would dip his head low, nodding to acknowledge them while wearing a smile. With the horses, they galloped into the front of Haven’s entrance and set off there. They also brought new people with them, and immediately, I noticed the small girl riding behind Max. It was a girl wearing a black short skirt with black tights that looked torn a bit, and she was wearing a thick leather and fur jacket, probably Max’s.

Oh, and did I mention the girl has blue hair? It was more ombre with hues of aqua and teal. To sum it up, she was getting a lot of attention as I see a lot of people staring at her. What’s worse as I approach the arriving party with Cullen, I noticed the small girl was only a teen. I’d recognize that generation Z outfits anywhere and Tilly’s and such.

Cassandra went over to help the girl off the horse and she stumbled a bit, then Max got off. I’ve never seen anyone so afraid and probably wishing to be home now.

The two were already looking at me and silently telling me that I should take her in under my wing. Of course, that would be no problem.

Walking over to her, I reached out. “Hi, I’m Maddie. Welcome to Haven, sweetie… How much did Max fill you in?” She tilted her head, not knowing who Max is, and I gestured my head to said person. “The _Herald_.”

Then her eyes lit up, realizing. “ _Ohhh_ … ohh, I thought his name was _Harold_.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at that and so did Cullen. Varric laughed the loudest, and even Cassandra and Solas looked very amused.

Max, who had amusement twinkling in his eyes, turned to the Seeker. “Did you hear that Seeker? You are all having my name replaced with _Harold_.”

Cassandra did not even take the bait as she rolled her eyes at him while the new girl seemed to panic a bit like she said something wrong.

“Ohh I’m sorry! I didn’t know Harold wasn’t your name.” She said, and the story-telling dwarf only laugh harder while Cullen and Solas covered their sniggers. And I get the hilarity, the name was funny itself, plus Max didn’t like look like a Harold.

Max waved it off nonchalantly. “It is fine. My name is Max, and this is Maddie. She’s our Haven’s Overseer and she’s also from your world, _Nicole_.”

Then her eyes shot at me surprised. “Really? Where from Earth?”

“The Bay area.” I answered proudly.

She looked so relieved just hearing a geographical location that she knew of rather than Redcliffe or Haven, I should think so.

“You?”

“Brooklyn. New York.” And she said her home-city just as proudly.

Max and the others left Nicole with me as I gave her a short tour around Haven and making sure she had a place to sleep in. I suppose she’ll be sharing the cabin with Esme and I. Esme works at the tavern as a cook. As we were walking around, she told me how she stumbled upon Thedas. She just landed in Denet’s horse stables and to be honest, there were worse places and _ways_ to land in Thedas. So far, mine was the most extreme. Well, arguably, Neal landing right after the breach stabilize was the worst timing.

The sun was nearly setting and I was hoping Cullen would come by tonight at the tavern just as he said he would. After I had her settled in my cabin, I offered to buy her dinner.

I took her to the tavern with my guitar in tow.

“You play? Are you playing tonight?” Nicole asked anxiously. “Ohh, I would love to hear some modern music. My phone died.”

I only chuckled at her. “Sure. Any requests?”

She just sighed, shaking her head, “Just… Anything from our world… I know my sanity needs it. Dennet nearly kicked me out if not for his daughter, Seanna. I told her it was hair paint and that I was no demon. Even Elaina, his wife, came to my rescue. God, I would have died from the wolves if not for those two.”

That would have been unfortunate for her if not for them. I responded, “Lucky you. I fell into the lake still stuck in a train car.”

“I heard about that!” she said. “Varric mentioned how every one of us _Earth people_ were crazy until you came out of thin air with the train. How did that even happen?”

Shrugging, we entered the tavern as I determined, “No clue.”

On a table not too far away, I could see the others around the table with Varric and Max with them. Even Solas was present but he was in another table privately with Neal and Adan. Neal did mention learning more of the herbs and this healing magic these two possessed in order to mesh with his medical skills. I suspect the two thedosian were more interested in CPR, bringing someone back to life with practical, sensible, and non-magical methods.

Varric saw us and waved for us to join the table. “ _Keeper!_ Over here.”

I think I recall my favorite dwarven author explaining to me how I was the Keeper of my folks since I kept checking on them, but now a Keeper of Haven to look after and manage everyone here but the advisors.

Happily, we went to join them and Nicole shyly sat down next to me, obviously very conscious at how many people were staring at her blue hair. For the rest of us, it was normal. Those colored hair dyes of pastel hues were a common trend in the modern world.

“ _Shortcake_ , how are you settling in?” He was referring to Nicole, who smiled back a bit.

“I’m settling in just fine. Maddie has been nice. Thanks, Maddie.”

“No problem. And Varric, why _shortcake?_ ” I asked him, and I smiled at him teasingly. “After all, she is a little taller than you.”

Max chortled in his drink but it only seemed to amuse Varric as he measured with his fingers. “By a couple of inches, and I’m a dwarf so I’m at natural height. For her, she’s human and—well, you get my point.”

I did get his point. The women here were fucking tall compared to us Earthlings. Cassandra was a good three-inches taller than me.

“I do get your point, though I expected you to give her a nickname based on her blue hair.” I pointed out.

Varric shrugged. “She didn’t like just the nickname _blue_. Besides, I had a friend who disliked being called Red just because she has red hair.”

“It is incredibly dull,” Nicole agreed. “Besides I like shortcakes. The blueberry kind.”

Then our server, Besse, came by and I had to asked her, “Hey, is Esme making any pizza tonight?”

“You guys made pizza???” Nicole asked excitedly.

Max turned to us. “Pizza?”

Besse bashfully bowed her head to him, awed at his presence. “Esme, she’s of Earth people like Maddie here, says it’s a popular dish from their world.”

“We were feeling homesick.” I told them. “We needed something more from home than just music, and food is definitely a big deal. And pizza is just really, really good.”

Nicole nodded. “I’m from New York, and we know pizza.”

In the end, Max and Varric ordered the same thing so we were told to wait a while the pizza would be baking. At this time, Cullen had walked in and he came in to join our table.

“You’re joining us, Curly?” Varric asked, quiet surprised.

“I happened to find some free time,” he said, smiling a bit wearily. I could see he went through a lot of workload, and I’m a little honored he did it just so he could see me sing. Of course, I could just be over speculating things.

“So, Cullen, any ideas for your reserved request?” I asked him. “Our meal is still in the oven, so we have some time for a song.”

He paused, thinking about it before settling with this idea, “I’ve thought for a long while, and I was wondering—and I mean no offense—but you Earth people have a religion, correct?”

 “Yes, we do.” I answered, not offended by it.

He leaned in, “Will you play a song of your religion?”

I smiled at that. “It wouldn’t be considered heresy??”

“Well, we’re already considered a heretic movement. Go ahead, Keeper.” Varric said, gesturing to the corner where Maryden would usually stand to sing, but she was sitting out tonight.

With their encouragement, I moved to the spot and had my guitar in hand, catching everyone’s attention. There was only one song I could think of that had to do with our religion, or at least related to it.

“Now, I've heard there was a secret chord…that David played, and it pleased the Lord, But you don't really care for music, do you? …It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth, the minor fall, the major lift…! The baffled king composing hallelujah…!”

“Hallelujah… Hallelujah… Hallelujah… Hallelujah…”

I could notice just a bit that tavern got quieter, listening to this new song while the others—My people—faced me with yearning looks, and even I can see Esme from the back, stepping out of the kitchen to listen.

“You say I took the name in vain, and I don't even know the name, but if I did, well really, what's it to you…? There's a blaze of light in every word. It doesn't matter what you heard…! The holy or the broken _Hallelujah…!!_ ”

Neal started to sing as well and the others have joined, repeating the word that they know best, and maybe it was just me but even Max was mouthing hallelujah. My heart folded seeing that Cullen was also singing a bit and even some other Thedosians.

“I did my best, it wasn't much. I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch. I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you. And even though it all went wrong, I'll stand before the Lord of Song with nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah…!”

_Hallelujah, Hallelujah_

_Hallelujah, Hallelu-_

_Hallelujah, Hallelujah_

_Hallelujah, Hallelu-_

_Hallelujah_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Mimidoodles for the suggestion of the train being a "huge fucking piece of evidence [that] they ain't from here!!" I had forgotten to think of such a thing that maybe they don't believe these people and that they have lost their marbles. lol.


	3. Black Eyes

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Thirteen.

There were thirteen of us Earth people accounted for in Haven: Nicole being the youngest at 15 and Tom, oldest at 46.

Sixteen more Earth People were found across Thedas such as Orlais, Denerim, etc. Among those sixteen that the Inquisition managed to reach, only five were coming to join the cause, otherwise some were asking only for updates for a way to get home, and two have decided to stay in Thedas.

While the search for the way home was as dim as the thick, morning smog of Los Angeles, the Inquisition was slowly progressing and solidifying its vows to bring order into a world gone mad. Ever since the Templars left Val Royeaux, there has been incessant arguments between the advisors on which side to choose: Mage or Templars? Then, Max said that they should hurry up and make a decision. Right when he said that, I realized the one significant flaw of the Inquisition.

They had _no_ leader. No Inquisitor.

They really had no clue what they’re doing and they’re just making it up as they go, which wasn’t so bad. So far, they were all doing a really good job. And that’s more than what I can say for the Chantry of lost, wandering sheep.

Also, though it has never been officially announced and from what I witness during these war meetings, I was starting to see Max as the leader of the Inquisition.

However, I kept my mouth shut for that one and wait for the advisors to learn on their own that they need Max the Herald to be the leader, especially with everyone following him. He was even starting his own inner circle, already including Cassandra, Solas, and Varric with the addition of the quirky elf, Sera; the icy mage, Vivienne; and the scruffy warden, Blackwall. I had the chance to meet each one of them since I was in charge of their accommodations.

The first time I met Vivienne and had a conversation with her was very…frustrating and intriguing. She even argued with Cullen that they needed more Templars to watch after the mages, and it was really unexpected for a mage that’s pro-circle. To be honest, I was against the Circles, and my people seem to agree that the Circles were more like imprisonment. The question is now are the circles needed?

She really tried to make me understand in a way that made me sound like I was stupid. I cannot recall the words she said, but I know the way she said it was laced with arrogance, and that I was a petulant child. Hated her for it, but I told her I needed more time to think about this. I mean, this was a world that I did not know and I wanted to learn from every side, from a mage for a circle, from a mage against a circle, and same for Templars.

As for Sera, she doesn’t give a shit from what I gathered. It seemed she just wanted things to run again, and somehow, I can relate to that. Whenever something shitty happens with the government like the time when the Congressional Budget Office stopped working and all governmental services shut down, we all just wanted them to start working already. We didn’t care what the problem was, we just wanted shit fixed.

Blackwall was a talker, but I got so bored of his hero talk, and honor and…shit. I don’t know why but he’s too… hardcore in his values that the conversation isn’t normal and we have nothing in common. I don’t know. That is just me, but of course, I remain polite and just check up on him every once in a while, as I visit Harritt’s.

In the meanwhile, Haven continues to receive more of the people flocking to its cause. When they see that hole in that sky, it only embroils them more into the mission. Chancellor Roderick, however, had been no help as he continued to remain here.

Nope. Put on that salesperson attitude. Be nice and polite at all times just like how Josie does it, only she’s more of an expert than I would ever be.

“What do you think, Maddie?”

I blinked as I realized I just spaced out during the short meeting with the just the advisors. Max wasn’t here as he was out to the Storm Coast to see these Iron Bull Chargers, a mercenary gang.

“What? What were we talking about?”

Cullen sighed and Leliana didn’t look pleased. Thankfully, Josephine decided to help me out, “We were discussing a most stressful discussion, and we sought to ask of your opinion, considering that you are an outsider and might have better input about all this. Would you prefer the Inquisition seek aid from the mages or the templars?”

I looked between Cullen and Leliana, and to be honest, I was in the same position as Josie… though albeit I was leaning towards the mages a bit.

“Does it matter?” I asked, and the two didn’t like the answer, but I pressed forward, “In the end, it’s not you or me that’s going to make any difference. It’s Max. Whatever he decides, that’s the side we’re choosing, because let’s face it, we’re here in a war room while he’s out there risking his life---and no that doesn’t mean we’re doing any less of this work,” I quickly amended, seeing Cullen’s look, and continued, “It’s just… He’s going to be the one facing them, so might as well that he makes the decision?”

“Hmm… a valid point.” Leliana hummed as she resigned from the argument now.

Only Cullen seemed to frown at that. “Can we really leave it up to him to decide?”

I shrugged. “I don’t mind really. After reading the reports of the Inquisition’s influence throughout the Crossroads, helping people and feeding people, and closing rifts and fighting demons…? I’d follow the person that can provide me security and safety in this chaotic world. It’s just human nature—euhmm… people nature? You know what I mean.”

They nodded and Josephine then said, “That’s still very hard to imagine a world where only us humans exist. No elves, no dwarves, no qunaris… No Solas, no Varric…”

I giggled. “Hahaha, well it’s the same for us. I’m still getting over the fact that dragons exist.”

“You don’t have dragons in your world?” Cullen asked, surprised.

“Nope.” I shook my head for good measure. “We have flying machines that can take us from one continent to another in one day.”

“Tell me, Maddie,” Leliana began to speak. “Does your world come with corrupt leaders?”

Nodding my head furiously, I answered, “Oh yes. There’s one right now who is elected as president of the United States—it’s my people’s homeland, and the President is sort of the leader.”

Leliana raised a brow. “Why sort of?”

“Because he’s no monarch, or else we’ll all be screwed if he was actually king, but see our government system has three branches. A court of the people, a judge for the people, and a leader for the nation. Those three branches check and balance each other so that no one has more power than the other, but even then, we’re people… There’s bound for something to go wrong…”

I feel like my morals and beliefs were challenged when the Spymaster just kept asking me questions. “So what do you think of us? The Inquisition? Are we doing wrong or bound to do something wrong?”

Pursing my lips, I thought about that question a little longer before finally giving my answer, “Perspective... There’s no right or wrong about anything we’re doing… but I like to believe that we’re doing right. And right now, as all Chantry mothers say in these challenging times, beliefs are tested and I have faith the Inquisition will restore order… Is that enough? Anymore ideal questions? Test of beliefs?”

Leliana just smiled and restrained a giggle. “No… the answer is just what I needed.”

Not sure what that was, but the meeting ended in a good note. The decision to take a side would be determined by the Herald himself... which they will tell him once he had returned from his journey.

It had been a couple of days now and we’ve gotten word from Leliana’s letters about the Hessarians holding Inquisition scouts and a few of my people hostage. The scouts were unfortunately dead, and only one of my earth people were rescued. From that letter, I was so distraught, and I tried to get Leliana to write back and send the letter as fast as she could for Max to recovered any items of them, like a wallet or a cellphone even, or anything with their names on them.

This was extremely difficult for me to swallow, because I was lucky. I was lucky that I landed here in Haven while others, like the people held hostage by the Hessarians, were probably tortured and killed. It was wrong. Of course, I also felt bad for our scouts, there’s no doubt about that. It’s just that… it sucked. Lost in an unknown world and then dying without any of your love ones knowing?

It sucked.

I put those thoughts away for now as I tended to my work, and that was including checking on each section of work assigned daily, as well as seeing my people to see if they were doing okay.

At this point, I’ll need to change my points from ‘my people’ to ‘my inquisition people’, but I didn’t want to get too comfortable. I had a home and I needed to get back to it. Honestly, some nights I had to cry, especially with Esme and Nicole as we talked about Earth. It’s no shocker that we miss home a lot, even if we’re doing a lot of good here. I really, really miss home.

Speaking about home, Nicole had been sharing some stories created by the authors of our place with the children of Haven. With everyone working and such, the children were either playing or were sent to gather herbs. Not a whole lot of education, and we weren’t capable of teaching when we don’t know the writing language and such, but Nicole had been watching out for them. She’d take them herb gathering just near by the soldier camp so if anything happens, they’ll be there. She also got them to chase some nugs, go fishing and other things.

The one thing that the children like was when she was telling them fairytale stories.

I caught them that one early evening with the sun about to set in an hour or so. She and the other kids were gathered around the firewood. There were even some adults listening keenly to her tales and as I drew closer, I know exactly what story she was telling.

“ _I will find you!_ He says. _Wherever you are_ , _I will always find you!_ And as she rode the horse away, fleeing from the scene, she looked back giving him a daring smile to which—for a moment—he was caught from her beauty. And that, my children, was how Prince Charming and Snow White met for the very first time…” Nicole said and the kids seemed to be in awe, never hearing a ‘Snow White’ story like that.

“What happened next?” one of the kids asked eagerly and Nicole continued.

At that moment, the cogs in my head started to spin. How did Thedas know about Snow White or Cinderella? It was a clue, and a clue that I would have to revisit when Max returns.

I shared this clue with Neal, who looked intrigued for a moment but he seemed to get the idea of what I meant.

“Wait… so if this world has fairytales like Snow White and Cinderella… Wouldn’t that mean that maybe one of our own was here?” Neal asked and I nodded. “That’s… that’s crazy. How are you sure it’s not the other way around, if it’s even possible?”

“Well, our fairytales each came from a different country, and yet, the fairytales that they know that we know all originate from Orlais. Getting the picture yet?”

He nodded slowly, understanding, “Yeah… and so we need to know what happened to the author?”

“It’s our best shot, and I’m waiting for Max to come back. I feel like he cares more for us getting home than the others do,” I confessed and it was sort of true. Max was more supportive while the others were looking for reasons for us to stay as flattered as we felt. Not trying to sound so conceited, but we made good changes, and I did notice that the people brought here were experts of their own craft.

Often, I had to ask, why were we brought here? Just to make these changes…?

I found out a little more of that answer, only to get a thousand more questions.

There were new people that day coming into Haven, pledging to assist in the cause. Some were a group of apostates and their own family members, and a few of them were hurt. One of them scared the holy fuck out of me.

He was human, probably older than Neal though then again, Thedosians look older than their actual age. He was wearing robes and a hoodie. The one thing that scared were his eyes.

His eyes were a pool of **_black_** , just… completely like the abyss.

I didn’t ask because I thought it’d be rude but I recommended that he would see Neal. His demeanor made it worse and making him creepy than he already is. Honestly, those eyes remind me of the demons in the Supernatural series.

“Where are you taking me?” He asked, impatiently as I led him to the medical tent.

“Neal, do you have a moment?” I asked and I saw that he was on his desk, taking log and such.

“Yes, what do you…?” He trailed off, seeing the mage behind me. He got off his chair and approached us, keenly looking at the man. “Your eyes… what happened to your eyes?”

Well, he was braver than I was, asking such a rude question.

The mage actually looked at us weirdly, “What do you mean?”

I think Neal and I shared a look, knowing this guy was crazy or something. And Neal pointed out more bluntly, “Dude. Your eyes are black.”

And his eyes seemed to widen a bit as Neal continued, “Did you touch anything that started this infection, or were you born with this--?”

“ _You_ … you both can see _me?_ ” He asked, either bristling with anger or in shock.

Something was not right.

You know, that reminded me of that time I had this discussion with Solas about magic. I was so curious that I asked him to make magic for me and he amazingly had fire in his hands. I felt like a little kid and reached out to try and touch the flame, but he pulled away, saying I’ll burn myself. Apparently, Neal also did the same thing. It was just amazing because we never have magic, and it boggled Solas’ mind about that. I started to wonder why people feared magic, and it wasn’t because of what they can do… but demons. Demons tempting mages and if the mage say yes, then they’ll be possessed and lost forever. Demons were more adept at using magic. Perhaps, it’s one thing why people feared magic instead of this world turning into a Harry Potter series.

So, the clues were merging into an answer: this person is a mage and his eyes are black, plus he said that strange sentence... that we could see _it_.

Both Neal and I were slowly inching away from him, and unfortunately for me, I was still too close to him.

He grabbed me and I let out a yell of fright. The people in the clinic were now on alert, especially when I felt fire very close to my face. See, now, I don’t want to touch the flames.

“ ** _You earth humans can_ see me?? How?!**” His voice had changed into something demonic and sinister, exactly like those distorted scary voices in horror films.

Fuck this shit!

“N-no, please, let me go!” I pleaded. To be honest, I was really fucking scared here. Demons that I thought to be were just hallucinations and nonexistent are real, and one was holding me hostage.

“ ** _Silence! …I’ll use you. You will get me out of here._** ”

Neal, bless Neal, actually tried to lunge for me, to grab me but the demon hit him with the flames and he dropped on the floor, crying out in pain.

“ _NEAL!!_ ” I screamed, coupled by the other medics letting out frantic cries, then I was dragged out of the tent.

At this point, I think I can relate to the feeling of having a gun pointed to my head. We walked all over Haven with his flaming hand dangerously close to me. I can actually hear people yelling and shouting, demon, demon, the healer’s hurt etc. Most of the time, I could only hear the blood pounding in my ears. I could hear my frightened heart pacing fast like a rabbit’s frailness.

We were at Haven’s gates and surrounded by Inquisition soldiers, all armed. I see Cullen in the front middle, glaring ferociously at the abomination with me in its grasps.

“Let her go, _demon!!_ ” Cullen snarled, and he sounded really sexy. I would have swoon if I wasn’t so fucking scared right now.

“ ** _This earthling is important to you? Then let me pass… and I’ll let her go. If not…_** ” The flame got hotter and nearing my face. “ ** _I’ll burn her, right here for you. I’ll die for it, but at least you won’t have her back. Hehehe…_** ”

It cackled and its threat only made me tremble.

“C-Cullen… Cullen please…” Those words escaped my lips and he looked absolutely torn apart. He was stricken between duty and killing the demon, or even taking the risk. Even if he let the demon go, there would be no guarantee it will even let me live.

After a long intense silence, Cullen stepped aside and reluctantly the soldiers were making a way for _it_. I only felt relieved for just one moment when it started to drag me again.

The next few seconds, everything changed so fast and too swiftly for my mind to comprehend.

Lysette, a Templar that I usually see around Haven and chatted with a few times, came into my view. She held her hand out and I saw a pulsing wave come at me, hitting me like a blow against my guts. The fire went out and the demon screeched…

But I recall dropping to my knees, out of breath, the world blackening around me. The noises deafening as the chaos resumed to fight off the demon…and I fell to the snow, passing out.

.

.

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	4. Buuuull...Shhhhh....t

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I never thought there would even be a chance to get home, and yet they have found a lead.

.

.

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My eyes fluttered open, waking up from a dreamless sleep. At first, I felt well rested, but then I wasn’t. Tiresome engulfed me immediately. It ached too much to move like I ran a 10k marathon with no preparation and having asthma attacks. I’ve never felt so…drained.

I heard a gasp and instantly Nicole was at my side.

“Oh God, you’re awake. How are you feeling?” she asked and I’ve never seen someone so relieved just for me.

“…Tired… like I ran a 10k…and throwing up everywhere…”

She snorted. “Well, if that means you’re okay. Stay. I’m getting Neal.”

“Neal… Neal, is he okay?” I asked, panicking as I recall the events that had happened. “What about the demon? I saw Lysette and Cullen, did he--?”

“Hey, hey, hey, calm down.” She said, placing her hand on mine to soothe me. “Neal’s okay. He didn’t get burn. The demon is dead. Everyone is fine, it’s just… well, things are just getting complicating.”

Neal didn’t get burn? What did that mean? More so, I didn’t like the last part. How did things get more complicating than the breach in the sky? I asked, “How so…?”

She made a cringing expression. “…They think we’re _mages_.”

And that was absolutely ridiculous. I think I threw a fit and started yelling. Do I look like I could make fire? My angry yelling alerted a lot of people that I was awake, thus Nicole didn’t have to leave the cabin for Neal to come to my aid.

Just like she said, he was fine. No burns, no scars. Absolutely fine. I was in shock as he checked me over with additional people present in the cabin: Cullen, Cassandra, and Max.

“...You’re okay… you were hit by fire,” I noted as he finished up checking my vitals.

He leaned back, pursing his lips as he was also uncertain of what was happening. “Yeah… see, it just felt like someone punching my guts—well, I did feel the burn and I thought I was burning but nothing…like it was all in my head.”

“That is so fucking weird… so why do people think we’re mages?” I asked, demanding an answer.

Cullen answered for me, “You were hit by a spell purge, Maddie. It shouldn’t affect you at all unless…”

He trailed off and I finished the sentence, narrowing my eyes, “Unless I’m a mage? That’s ridiculous. If we could use magic, I’d magicked myself home by now.”

“It’s a mindboggling matter and it will be investigated further,” Cassandra affirmed and I did not like to be investigated.

Thankfully, Max was our saving grace. “We’ve discussed this already and I’m making myself clear again. These people aren’t mages. It is probably because they’re from another world. Solas supplemented that maybe our body properties and theirs may differ. As some had witnessed, Neal was hit by fire and yet he came out unharmed by the flames. There’s nothing suspicious about them…”

Cassandra did not like that and I’ve never had a problem with her until now, and I didn’t like it. Maybe because I actually like her, and her and Cullen being suspicious of me hurt.

Then Max continued, “However… we do need to look into this, Maddie. It’s not suspicious, more so as a concern, if you believe me. I mean, you were hit by a spell purge and fell into a coma for five days.”

I blinked. “…Five days? I’ve been out for five days?! The schedule—I haven’t made the schedule yet for the employees or---awwhh…”

A swirling headache attacked me and Neal tried to get me to lie down again. “Easy, relax, Esme and Nicole had been handling the schedule and have prepared one for the next two weeks. Josephine is also handling it. Just relax until you get better, okay?”

Groaning, I reluctantly laid back down. “…what about the requests day-offs? And the Josie’s visitors? Were accommodations arranged?”

“Dear Maker! Rest, woman!” Cullen cut me off and I see that he was smiling. “Everything’s being handled just fine. You left some notes enough for everyone to manage themselves for a while.”

Max agreed, “He’s not wrong. Just get some rest, and we’ll discuss more about this later when you’re better.”

With that, the prominent figures left the cabin, leaving just Neal and Nicole with me.

I let out a sigh. “…That mage was a demon.”

Neal nodded. “Yep.”

“We can tell, who’s an abomination or not.”

“Yep.”

We can see demons. We can tell abominations from mages or simple people. Thank God though that so far it has only been that one abomination I’ve seen, and not anyone else in Haven. Apparently, everyone has been on alert and Earth people were asked to be on a lookout for any abominations and report immediately.

I think what had everyone really on the edge was that the abomination was trying to enter Haven. But why? For what purpose? Why would a demon come to Haven where there are a lot of templars and mages that could probably tell him apart given a few more days? It didn’t feel right and everyone was worried for a couple of days. It took a while for everyone to be assured, especially since us Earth people were here.

We can see demons.

Later that early evening, Cullen had revisit me again and I was in a better mood. When he walked right in, I said the words immediately right out of my mouth that had been bothering me.

“We can see demons.” I said and he paused from approaching for a moment, lulling at that sentence before nodding, completely agreeing with me, “Yes, and not just any demons. Abominations… even _that_ is extremely difficult for us. To tell someone apart from normal and demonic possession? Impossible… and yet Neal claimed his eyes were black.”

“Yes, even the sclera was black. The white part of your eyes that it’s like looking at an animal’s eye, but pitch black,” I explained then slowly I sit up wincing.

He quickly moved to my aid. “Are you hurt?”

“No, no, just… my whole-body aches… like I just joined your training regime at the crack of dawn, and believe me, I am out of shape, Cullen.” He laughed at that comparison, and we both know how terribly rigorous the training is in the morning. Esme had trouble keeping them fed in the morning until she decided to double their calories if they had training with Cullen.

“Well… I’m glad you’re alright. Lysette was quite worried she had hurt you.”

I shook my head. “On the contrary, she saved me. I guess it’s worth being knocked out for five days. Tell her I said thanks. Neal said I have to stay in bed until my body isn’t aching.”

“Despite our suspicions, we are extremely glad that you are going to be okay,” he said to me, his expression softened. “The Herald was very adamant that you all can be trusted, and I see that now this morning.”

I blinked. “What happened this morning?”

Cullen chuckled. “The moment we told you that you were out for five days, you started thinking about us… about the Inquisition. The schedule, people’s works, requests, days-off as you say… It had Cassandra and I reeling back. You think so much of us.”

“Well… yeah. You all took us in and even promised to get us all back home.” I pointed out.

He shook his head. “It was all Max’s idea. The rest of us wanted to keep you all in a dungeon. The first time Neal arrived, we locked him in the dungeon because—well, we thought he was crazy. Then when the Herald woke up and heard of him, he went to release him, telling us that we were fools. He asked have we learned nothing from locking him up after he stumbled out of a rift?”

I snorted at that. I heard the story from Max’s perception, and to start from being a prisoner and becoming the Herald of the Maker’s wife, Andraste? That was something.

“Then… each and every one of started popping out of nowhere, yours was a grand entrance so far.” He pointed out.

I rolled my eyes. “Grand entrance my ass, I nearly drowned! I’d rather have been dropped at the time Neal was—no wait…” He laughed at that, knowing that by far, Neal had the worst timing arriving. They had just closed the Breach and he plopped right out on the ground by a random rift that quickly opened and closed. The awkwardness and shocking event after a climactic battle? Priceless.

“I suppose I should let you rest… Hopefully we’ll be seeing you walking around Haven soon,” he said.

I nodded to him. “I will be… oh, and thank Lysette for me.”

He bowed his head before getting up from his chair and leaving the cabin.

It didn’t take long until I was back on my feet after a couple of days of bed rest, and the first person I went to was Josie. She was very glad to see me that she even gave me a big hug. I went through with her the things I missed for the last week now, and though she told me it was no big deal, I’d feel much better if I see it myself.

New people arrived, especially the mercenaries that came with Max and the sole surviving hostage from the Hessarians. Just to note, Max had become their leader after borrowing Bull’s sword as I’ve heard.

Anyway, I got to meet the Iron Bull and the Chargers during the day.

“ _Holy fuck_.” Were the vulgar words that slipped out from my mouth when the big guy approached me. I didn’t mean to offend anyone, but… holy fuck.

Good thing everyone else was just laughing, and even The Iron Bull was being a good sport.

“Well, good day to you too.”

“Wow, you… you are tall,” I expressed with much awe, though the height was just one of the traits that shocked me when meeting him as my hand moved up and down to compare the differences of inches or feet in this case.

Neal rolled his eyes, commentating, “Maddie, you don’t actually need to measure the height difference with your hand when it’s obvious he’s taller than you.”

More laughter ensued and I just resorted to smacking his arm to which resulted into more laughter. I had a small chat with the mercenary qunari captain after properly welcoming him to Haven and even talking with a few of his Chargers before letting them be. Neal remained with the chargers, having an interesting medical conversation with their Healer, Stitches.

I moved on before things got too embarrassing on my case then heading to where I heard this new earth person was hanging out. Just to note, that would make us 14 Earth people now in Haven.

I walked over to Harritt’s place and I see Blackwall nodding towards my direction to which I returned a a greeting smile and bow of the head.

Then I saw the other earth person. Crimson red hair that I was sure it was dyed and bright green eyes.  He noticed me approaching and he pulled away from the smelting ore, giving me this big grin on his face.

“Hey! …Maddie right? Neal said you’re Haven’s manager in a way?”

Yup, sounds just like us.

“Sort of, if the setting was more modern. The official title is overseer,” I explained to him, smiling. “Nice to meet you, Mr. _Fitzwilliam?_ ”

“Arthur, call me Arthur.”

I asked how he was and he was settling in just fine here in Haven, and better than with the Hessarians. He just felt bad that he made it out and the others didn’t. Had to remind him that it wasn’t his fault. Anyhow, I did the usual interview like I did with Nicole and how the others had done it. The guy worked in a robotics lab though he had taken welding classes before and excelled in it, thus he was contributing in the blacksmith area, learning the primitive—emm, classic way of crafting weapons.

After getting acquainted with Arthur, I head over to meet with Lysette and thanking her for saving my life. She was worried and even apologized for unintentionally hurting me—keyword: unintentionally, but I said it was not her fault and if not for her, I would have been dead.

So, that was the story of my day as I made my way to the tavern later on that evening, only to witness Iron Bull and the Chargers discovering donuts. Esme’s cooking had been a big hit in Haven. And it didn’t change costs with the Inquisition’s expenses. Esme just a lot of vegetables and seasoning, which made the food healthier, but otherwise, Esme would make some desirable desserts like donuts.

Maryden was playing that night so I settled in the table with Neal, Nicole, Solas, and Varric. I just entered into a conversation where Nicole was explaining Once Upon a Time with Varric… which brought me to our crucial clue.

Luckily, Max had just walked in with Sera and they joined our table with Sera unceremoniously giving me a wet kiss on the cheek.

I froze, cringing at the kiss. “…Gee… thanks, Sera.”

“Your welcome, peach!” she said. She reminds me of Harley Quinn a bit. Trouble. The table just laughed.

Max chuckled. “Well, how are you feeling now, Maddie?”

“Alright now, Max. I got something really important to tell you though,” I began to say as I looked at Neal and Nicole, getting their attention, including Solas and Varric. “The fairytales… Thedas has similar fairytales like ours. Snow White, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, and Sleeping Beauty? My world and your world have different constellations, continents, and magic and no magic, and yet we have the same… _fairytales?_ ”

Max paused and his eyes seemed to widen, realizing as fast as we did, “…One of your own must have come here a long time ago.”

I snapped my fingers. “Precisely! It’s a lead!”

“So, this world hopping has been going on longer than just recently?” Varric questioned. “Well… shit.”

Solas was more in awe. “That… that is fascinating. If you could find this author of these fairytales, maybe we can see how he had arrived without the intervention of rifts. We could possibly find a way to send you all home.”

“What? Really?” Nicole asked hopefully.

“It’s a lead, and it’s a start. I’ll let Josephine and Leliana know first thing in the morning. They’re good at digging information,” Max pointed out.

Neal nudged Nicole gently, smiling, “Good job. This is your doing, telling those tales to those kids.”

She smiled at that she had something important and she did without even realizing it. Honestly, I was skeptic about getting home even when Max promised us. To my greatest joy, finding this author would make that promise more concrete. I know it will be soon. Please let it be soon.

The next morning, I hear the Herald was leaving with a small party, heading out. They were already far down the road as I meet up with a slightly irritated Spymaster.

“What’s wrong?” I asked her as I was holding two cups of tea. One for her and one for me. Leliana and I usually have just casual talks. I don’t see why anyone think she’s scary, she’s rather nice. That or I’m oblivious.

“…The Herald had chosen to help the Templars,” she said as she took her teacup from me while I stood there, surprised.

“What?? Really? …I thought he’d choose mages.”

“I thought so as well,” she said, letting her disappointment known. “…I hope you are right about him.”

I pursed my lips. “…It’s not what I like but… I trust him. He has earned my trust when he trusted me so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. He has my faith.”

She turned to me, raising a skeptic brow. “You trust him that much.”

“I have too, in times like these, he brings hope… don’t you think so?” I asked, and her silence was enough of answer for me.

I watched until the Herald was far gone with Cassandra, Vivienne, and Varric riding off.

Sipping my tea, I have to pray. Pray for Max.

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	5. Spell Purging Max?!

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“Okay, so humor me. I have a theory,” Neal began, getting our attention as I chewed my pancake and Solas paused from drinking tea. The apostate elf was a bit of masochist because I can see him cringing each time he took a sip, thus he doesn’t like tea.

“Okay, we’ll bite. What is it?” I asked.

“Alright so…. Magic, to us, is an _illusion_ … How ‘bout that?” He asked.

I think we gave him the silence first, needing further explanation than just ‘how ‘bout that?’

“Explain?” Solas prompted.

Neal leaned in, prepared with this theory, “Alright, as you know, magic does not exist in our world. It is completely impossible for any of us to conjure fire out of nowhere, _but_ we have people called _magicians_. They can conjure fire in their hands if they want to, but it is because of tricks, like fuel coating the palms of their hands. They make it _seem_ like they have magic, thus an illusion. That fire spell was only an illusion to us thus magic is an illusion, and _that_ is our body property rule.”

I pursed my lips at that. “In a weird sort of way… that kinda makes sense… So, you say we see it, we feel it, but it’s not actually happening. It’s all an illusion.”

Solas seemed to be highly intrigued in this explanation. He chewed on a piece of bread, thinking over it as Neal waited for him to respond with a statement or some sort of question. When he was ready, he asked a question that caught us off guard, “…How do you dream? What are your dreams about?”

Neal raised a brow. “What do you mean?”

“Well, mages walk the fade when they are in their sleep.” He said.

I can only cringe. “…I don’t think I would like to be in another unknown realm.”

He raised a brow, smirking, “You mean like this one?”

Ha. I am in another realm right now, aren’t I? Instead of arguing, I clicked my tongue. “Yes. No offense, you are all so nice, but I miss my home and my family.”

“Understandable. Now do you dream?” He asked again.

Neal nodded. “Well, yeah, but not walking in the fade. Just… natural dreams like losing my teeth or falling from the sky, being chased… Just self-esteem issue dreams.”

I nodded, agreeing, and I added, “He’s not wrong. Most of my dreams are like that too, though I did have nightmares of this place. I had one with another person with black eyes.”

Solas only hummed intrigued. “Hmm… those are normal dreams. Still, it’s quite peculiar that you can tell someone apart from demon possession. Any theories for that one?”

Neal apparently had a theory for that already as he said, “It’s in addition to the **Magic is an Illusion** theory. That abomination? His disguise can’t fool us, because we can see right through his illusion.”

“You’re on a roll with these theories, Neal.” I pointed out.

“Just _one_ , Maddie, and this theory seems like the most plausible out of all unless you can think of another one?” He asked.

I shook my head, but then Solas threw a conundrum in his little theory. “How about this, Neal? Why can a templar’s spell purge affect you?”

Neal had to pause at that, thinking. “A spell purge in definition is a templar’s ability to dispel or disable all hostile magic within an area… I’m thinking that our body property rules  are magic itself. Maybe we do have magic, but it’s a different sort of magic. This different sort of magic is what gives us the ability to perceive magic as an illusion. That ability is most likely our barrier, and spell purges cancel barriers, right?”

We fell silent again, bust mostly in awe and wonder at his explanations.

“How long have you been thinking about this?” I asked him.

“Since I got hit by fire and lived… I had a lot of time thinking, mind you,” He said as he leaned back after he took a sip from his mug. “ _I_ can be smart.”

Solas thought about it. “Well, it is only a theory, but I suppose a working theory.”

He seemed to beam proudly at that, and I only shook my head smiling. He’ll be getting a big head for sure.

Then in the corner of my eye, I saw Arthur coming out of the kitchen with a crate of short wine bottles after bargaining with Flissa—well, he was still bargaining with Flissa. I raised my brow as I stood up, walking over to them.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

They seemed to pause and Flissa spoke first, “He’s taking a lot of our bottle of ales and I don’t think it will do any good for our blacksmiths to be drunk.”

I raised my brow at Arthur, who shrugged as he explained, “I’m making a lot of molotovs, because we don’t have guns.”

Oh.

“Molotovs? But why?”

Arthur then stepped in closer, leaning in to whisper, “Have you been getting bad dreams about this place? I don’t like it, and I suppose it might be me getting paranoid, but I like to be safe than sorry.”

Perhaps I thought it was just me, but I did mention I was getting nightmares about this place. Bad dreams like the town burning in fire and I didn’t like it. It makes it seem like something bad was going to happen and I suppose some of us here should be paranoid.

I looked to Flissa waiting for me and I told her, “Let him. He’s making something out of it rather than drinking.”

“Yep. I’m allergic to alcohol, Flissa, and I’ll hide it from the guys at the smith, okay?”

After much deliberation, she finally let him go and he went away giddily.

The day went through uneventfully and I counted again. Fourteen. There were fourteen of us Earth people here in Haven.

-

When can we go home? I wasn’t so certain about it, except that it would be a very long while. There were no computers, no written books of other realms…Our only clue was the author of these old fairytales that he or she rehashed to match Thedas. However, these tales were written a long time ago, and I doubted anyone wrote an autobiography of the author. We were stuck waiting and in the meanwhile, helping the Inquisition.

Plumbing was up and running, especially with Arthur helping Tom. They had the pipes going out to the Compost site and there the feces were melded and blended with whatever eco-disposable things before farmers would use it to fertilize crops. At first, everyone was sickened at the thought of it, but Arthur explained to them---mostly asking them why they were afraid of their own shit but not if it was a cow? He advised them… Don’t think about it. Just know it’s safe.

Esme kept making new recipes just to wow the inhabitants of Haven, and especially us Earth people. She managed to make sliders---burgers. Somehow with the bear meat, she was able to get rid of the gamy taste, and enhanced it with complicating seasonings acquired from the new supplies.

Neal reported to me of the hygiene results. There were a lot less people in the clinic due to diseases and illnesses being cured so easily, after the patients were taking his advice. He was no doctor, but he surely knew common sense. I mean, usually we Earth people get sick what? Twice a year? Short periods of time? Except for those with allergies, they suffer greatly, but otherwise, we were better off. The patients here actually die from just a cold, and that was frightening. Luckily, with Neal in the clinic, the chances of living were higher.

_“Up where the mountains meet the heavens above, out where the lightning splits the sea… I would swear that there's someone somewhere watching me… Through the wind and the chill and the rain, and the storm and the raging flood, oh his approach is like the fire in my blood…”_

Strumming my guitar, I played a slow and more emotional version of the song, recalling footloose. Ella Mae Brown was singing the song, and somehow this called out to me.

_“I'll need a hero… and then we'll dance till the morning light. Dreaming he'll lead, he'll tight, tonight's the night.”_

What made this more special was Maryden singing with me and playing as backup. It’s amazing how musicians can just make up the notes and harmonize with any song. And when they make a mistake, they improvise and it goes well with the song.

_“I need a hero! I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night. He's gotta be strong, he's gotta be fast, and he's gotta be fresh from the fight. I need a hero! I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light! He's gotta be sure, he's gotta be soon, and he's gotta be larger than life, larger than life, larger than life…”_

_“Ohhh… larger than life…! Larger than life...! Oh baby… baby, baby, tonight…!”_

The song ended and the tavern ended up in applause. I smiled right at Maryden as she did the same. We were pretty good at this.

Maryden continued to play her own songs and I went to join the table where Cullen was sitting. Plus, my food was there too.

“You always sound so lovely,” He said to me, and I just flipped my hair. “Well, thank you. I know I do.”

He chuckled at my false immodesty before taking a bite of the lasagna Esme had made. I do not need to say it again that her cooking made a big difference here. She even got patrons to eat salad once she got the right dressing. With the food extremely good, she made sure to add other things with it so that they would not overeat. Luckily, most of us can handle moderation.

“This is really good. What do you call this?” Cullen asked, cutting another piece.

“Lasagna.” I simply answered.

“Your world must have a lot of good things.”

“Great things actually. Both the good and the bad.”

He nodded understandingly. “I suppose that would be the same for many…many worlds out there. That is still quite the strange concept to wrap my head around---and others.”

“You think? I dropped in here.” I pointed and he laughed. “True, true.”

“Anything from Max?” I asked.

Cullen pursed his lips. “Well, I am not supposed to say anything, but since you’re Haven’s overseer—a woman who is in charge below the advisors like me, but above the others here. I suppose I can tell you… We have heard that the Herald successfully took Theirinfal Redoubt… and has conscripted the Templars.”

“Conscripted?” I asked, lowering my voice as I noticed the last part was more of a whisper.

He leaned in, hushing words, his tone suggested he was angry. “He has disbanded the Templars and made them join our ranks… He has ended an ancient order meant for protecting innocent people from blood mages and abominations. It is like—like… Like ending your police force of peacekeeping officers.”

I raised a brow. “Well… Cullen, see, when any officer would try and protest, they are generally fired from their jobs. The templars did sort of protest and abandoned the chantry.”

“But that was because of the High Seeker,” he argued.

“It doesn’t matter. They had a choice to follow or not, and Max gave them that choice, didn’t he?” I asked him. “Now, he’s giving them no choice… And besides, when all things are over, I’m sure the Templars can leave and reform again, right? I mean, we only need them to help close the breach, and you got your way with the Herald choosing the Templars. You never said how he should get them.”

Cullen let out a heavy sigh at that. “It still doesn’t seem right to do so but… I suppose… Are you telling me you sided with mages?”

I matched his sigh. “Well… I did. I wanted Max to choose mages, but… otherwise, whatever he chooses, I trust him.”

“You trust him an awful lot,” he pointed out.

“Next to any of you? Sure. I mean, I trust you, Josephine, Leliana… The least persons I trust are Blackwall and Lady Vivienne.”

Cullen smiled a bit. “Any reason in particular?”

“I do not like Viv, and Blackwall feels so… farce. Too much of a Hero as Varric aptly nicknamed him.” I explained with no excusable reasons. “Pale explanations, but I have no way in describing what I feel. Just know they are my least.”

He chuckled. “Well, it puts me at ease that you trust me as much as Max.”

“Yes. So, if you say the Templars can do it, then they’ll do it.” Adamantly, I expressed and I could see the relief in his expression.

The night ended so sweetly there.

-

And the next day started off as the worst morning.

Max had returned with the first batch of templars that were able to make the journey. That morning was extremely busy as everyone got the Templars oriented with place, and also of the rules. There were mages here in Haven after all, and they were trusted mages. I mean, demon controlled templars with red lyrium? The templars did not have a good reputation arriving, so if they started any trouble, they will be in big trouble. They were conscripted after all, not steadfast allies. They have to earn our trust. Lysette absolutely agreed with me, and before she could help me set some of these Templars straight, she was called away. Oh well. I still had authority.

But that wasn’t where the worst part of the morning happened.

Instead, it was at the Chantry. Max was there to debrief with the other advisors. I was about to get in when the soldiers standing guard said, there was a private meeting right now and they asked for no one to get inside. I was happy to come back later if not for Blaire and Blake.

Blake and Blaire are fraternal twins, and private officers of Army and Marine Corps. They arrived as the 5th and 6th to have popped out of nowhere in Thedas. Their story was that they were driving together to their parents’ house with Blaire’s fiancé accompanying them. They stopped to investigate the blockade in the road when the rift out of nowhere swallowed them up. They landed not too far away from Haven, but close to a rift. There, the demons attacked them and they got away, however Blaire’s fiancé, Tyler, was hurt badly. He bled to death before the Inquisition got to them and rescued them.

Now, the twins are in Cullen’s army, and with their combat skills, they were promoted to Lieutenants.

And at this moment, they were taking me back to the Chantry, convincing me to get inside.

“It’s crazy in there!” Blaire exclaimed in the hush tone she could muster. “They have the Herald cornered.”

“Wait, what?” I asked.

Blake continued, “They had us see if he was an abomination or not. We told them he isn’t, but they don’t believe us. You have to stop them.”

“Max is really pissed right now, and I’m worried he’ll leave!” Blaire said.

“He wouldn’t!!” I said, very confused now. Why would they even think that Max was an abomination?

“Look, just stop them.” Blake said as we were nearing the Chantry’s doors. The guards there noticed us. “On three, just run right in there? Okay?”

Ohhh, this was fucking crazy! But at the same time, I had to listen. The way they were saying, it sounded like the advisors were going to do something really bad to Max, and for what reason, I didn’t know.

“Three!!” Blaire yelled out and in sync, she and Blake charged and tackled the guards that were… caught off- _guard_.

Quickly, I ran right in, forcing my way through the doors…

And there, I saw the biggest mistake that the Inquisition would ever make. There were a few soldiers, holding Max still, and keeping Varric away. Cassandra looked torn between, and there was Cullen, Vivienne, and Lysette next to a bounded Max about to do something to him. Leliana was keeping Josie away and just watched from afar in silence.

Everything fell into silence, when they saw I came in.

“…What is going on here?!” I demanded as the doors closed shut behind me, and I marched forward over to Cullen.

Lysette actually looked guilty as she took a step back from me. Cullen nearly faltered but he held steadfast. “Maddie. Not now. You need to leave. You can’t see this.”

“The hell I would!” I shouted as I turned to the guards holding Max. “Let him go! Are you all crazy!?”

The guards were very hesitant at this point, but perhaps they were already are—I mean, they were pinning the Herald of Andraste that they all believe in. Max felt their hold loosening then he shoved the soldiers off of him, but he didn’t make a run for it. Instead, he glared Cullen down as if daring him.

Cullen just stared straight at Max as he was talking to me, “We have to make sure he’s not an abomination. At Theirinfal Redoubt, the Herald was taken over by a demon and though they claim he fought back the control and destroyed the demon, we needed to make sure. And besides, he isn’t a mage, a spell purge shouldn’t hurt him.”

“Why not believe in Blake and Blaire when they say he’s not a demon?” I asked.

Vivienne—Ohh that bitch---made this scoff like noise. “We cannot rely on your people. Sometimes there are demons cleverer, especially Envy.”

Cassandra, who seemed so stricken about this, spoke softly, “we explained this to Max, but he refused to willingly have the spell purge done on him, even if it doesn’t affect him since he’s not a mage.”

Max rolled his eyes at her and the Seeker only looked away, uncertain to help or not.

“Then… No.” I said. “If he said no, then no. You can’t force him like this.” Then I turned to the Commander, taking a step towards him, “Cullen if you do this… you’ll lose his trust… it’s his right to refuse.”

Cullen pursed his lips and I could see he was wavering a bit. “…But we’re not certain…”

“But you trust me, right?” I asked him. “Trust me… He’s not a demon…”

And his eyes softened, now unsure.

“Oh for maker’s sakes, then do it!” Max suddenly said as he took a step towards the Commander, getting in his face, but luckily, I stayed in between them to keep any animosity from growing. I looked up, seeing straight into Max’s blue cerulean eyes. No… not black. Just blue. Normal eyes.

I tried again, “His eyes! His eyes are blue. Normal blue eyes!”

“Go on, Cullen. I dare you!!” He tried to provoke.

“No, stop! Max!” I scolded, pushing him a bit, but of course he wasn’t budging.

He then turned to Lysette instead. “Go on, Lysette!” He raised his voice then he grabbed me and pushed me aside, over to Cassandra. Holy fuck, he was strong. “She’s out of the way, and you’ve got clear shot of me, so do it!!”

This was different now as Max was getting them to do it now—more so, daring them. It sounded like that if they were going to do it, then he would do something bad in return.

“Well, he is asking of it. Do it, templar,” Vivienne said unhelpfully.

“Lysette! Don’t!” I called, and tried to go over to block Max, but Cassandra held me back, mostly for my safety.

Lysette was faltering and her hand was up, ready to strike and execute a spell purge that Vivienne had to take steps back, nearing Leliana’s area. A few more of intense moments passed, and soon, her hand lowered, uncommitted to do the act.

I let out a sigh of relief, and for a moment I thought things were calming down.

Then, I saw Max take a step back, his fist curling up tightly, and a second after, he threw a punch, deftly decking Commander Cullen in the face.

Holy fuck.

The Chantry was in chaos as the Commander and the Herald were now fist fighting and exchanging blows. Before it got any worse, the soldiers gathered quickly and pried them off of each other. Cassandra now left me went to restrain Max and I rushed over to get in front of Cullen once the two were slightly more apart.

“Enough!!” I yelled trying to push Cullen back as two other soldiers were holding him by the arms. I reached up, holding his face. “Let go, Cullen! Don’t!”

He finally looked at me---really looked at me, and he stopped struggling. His lip was bleeding, excessively and his left eyes was swelling up. As for Max, his nose was bleeding and there was a cut on his brow, probably from Cullen’s gauntlets.

Max shoved the guards off of him, but he didn’t continue the fight. Instead, he walked out of the chantry, fuming.

The doors closed and it was silent again.

“Maker…” Josephine let out softly, mostly in disbelief at what had happened.

Varric then stepped in closer after the guards had let him go to stop Max. “Well… it’s safe to say he’s not an abomination. If he was, he would have done more than just punching you in the face, Curly.”

Cullen let out heavy sigh, before wincing. I gestured for him to sit as I looked at the soldier. “Ice. Go to the clinic and ask for an ice pack.”

Ice pack of course is just a cloth bag with snow in it, which Neal made. The soldier saluted and ran off to go get it.

I took out my clean handkerchief and wiped the blood off of Cullen’s lips. “Well… looks like no one won that bet.”

Cullen was in deep thought until I said those words. He looked at me confused. “What bet?”

“Who would win in a fight. You or the Inquisitor? It looks to me it was a tie.” I said as I continued to dab the blood off. “Varric, I owe you no silvers.”

“This wasn’t a real fight, Keeper, though Max did get him good,” Varric pointed out, going along with this icebreaking topic.

Cullen was sort of smiling. “You were betting against me?”

“I was betting against Max,” I told him. “No offense to the Herald, but you look to have more experience Cullen.”

He chuckled before wincing again. His face hurting. The soldier finally returned with an ice pack and I had him place it on his swelling left eye.

“Well… this is a mess.” Varric said, and Leliana finally stepped up.

“We will meet later when everyone has calmed down,” she said. “None of what has happened here is to be repeated outside! Understood?”

The silence was enough of an answer. No one is to say anything that Inquisition had an internal fight amongst them. Leliana accepted, “Good… Before sun down, we’ll meet here again.”

She then turned to me. “Maddie…”

“I’ll make sure he comes.” I knew what she was asking of me. From what just happened, only Max would trust me instead of any of them. I looked to Vivienne, who only turned her head away and walked off. Good. Better say nothing.

Everyone was dismissed. Each went to their separate duty, work, or relaxation, leaving Cullen and I alone in the halls of the Chantry.

“…You sided with Max.” Cullen said as if to make a point, though what it was, I didn’t know.

I simply responded, “I was doing the right thing. What you were doing was wrong, and you know it… I’m just glad you trusted me in the end.”

“…It just seemed so suspicious that he would say no to a spell purge even if it won’t affect him.” Cullen said.

I pursed my lips. “…It’s like this Cullen… Maybe he’s not comfortable with that? With all the distrust? I mean… you had Blake and Blaire and that wasn’t enough? …It meant you didn’t just not trust us, you didn’t trust Max. Your extra precaution was a step too far for him… It’s the same example when police officers needed to have search warrant in order to search a person’s home. If they don’t have a warrant and they searched my home without my permission, even when they find nothing, I would be upset. I would take them to court for emotional distress, if possible.”

Cullen furrowed his brows. “If they would find nothing, why not let them search your house?”

“Because it is my right to refuse. I refused and they violated my right,” I said again. “…You almost violated Max’s right, but you didn’t. That’s what matters. Despite the mutual combat, you can still recover his friendship, Cullen.”

He raised a brow. “Friendship?”

“You two are friends, right?” I asked, and he lowered his head before lightly nodding. “Then, it’s salvageable.”

He smiled a bit. “I hope you are right… about all this.”

“I am, don’t you worry about it.” I told him as I continued to nurse him.

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That later sun down, when I went to go fetch him for a war meeting, I found out that Max had left Haven.

Fuck me.

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End file.
